Ugly Girls Are Not Allowed

I do love Twitter...sadly, some of the Top Tweets are complete shit, like #UglyGirlsAreNotAllowed.

Why is this trend shit? I shouldn't really have to explain - it should be incredibly obvious. Apparently, however, people missed the memo so...it's pretty much the height of stupidity to focus on looks alone when brains and personality get you further, for a start. I have known many people who didn't quite understand this and haven't done particularly well for themselves as a result. It's also psychologically damaging to people's minds to be told that they must be beautiful or they're worthless - as in, my-self-esteem-is-totally-fucked-up-and-I'm-going-to-kill-myself damaging in the very worst cases.

If you still don't understand, suicide isn't funny. It is not funny when someone tries to wipe themselves from existence because it just hurts too much to keep on existing. It is not funny to push someone into that. It is not funny when your friends or relatives break down and tell you that they've wanted to die for years because of the way they've been treated. By extension, it isn't funny to someone else's friends or relative when their friends and relatives are suicidal, and it shouldn't be funny to you.

I know I won't change your mind. I only hope someone else manages to before someone gets seriously hurt.

Riiiiiight...suicide rant over, now back to the main topic. Everyone the world over should laugh at that trend. Why? Because I'm ugly. I look like the back end of a bus most days and the front end of a bus on special occasions. I've also done most of the things I'm not supposed to do, and so far I haven't vanished in a puff of logic and pretty-people outrage. Let's see - as of the 24th of October, 2011, I've...

...gone out in public, in the day and the night
...dated
...worn red lipstick
...existed
...complained loudly, as is my right because I'm a person and I deserve to be treated like one
...flirted
...loved and been loved
...had a bad attitude and been rude
...been on Twitter
...done stuff, like breathe oxygen
...been in the middle of a picture
...taken vanity pictures
...uploaded pictures of myself to Facebook
...sworn at cameras (OK, security cameras, but still)
...gotten male attention, because I've got a lot of male friends
...called people ugly
...had sweet dreams
...wanted boys
...been retweeted
...not worn a bag over my head
...looked in the mirror
...been confident
...complained about being single
...tried things
...been referred to as a girl
...slept
...come in through the front door
...taken photos with hot friends
...talked to people
...talked loudly
...talked a lot
...eaten
...eaten after 8.30 pm
...had opinions
...thought I was fat
...paid my bus fare with a note
...followed people on Twitter
...been jealous
...walked around on this beautiful Earth
...walked around before meals
...commented on #UglyGirlsAreNotAllowed without embarrassing myself
...used the expressions "eww", "yuck" and "gross"
...been around people
...had people enjoy my company
...worn revealing clothes
...worn leggings
...worn clothes that other people like
...worn nice clothes
...worn short skirts
...spoken without being spoken to first
...sat at the front
...been at home
...been near the fridge
...had standards
...advised people
...liked being single
...dyed my hair bright colours
...dyed my hair red

As you can see from this (incomplete) record, I'm not perfect. I've screwed up, made stupid mistakes and done stupid things - much like everyone else on the planet. That would be the same whether I were ugly or whether I were the most beautiful person ever to walk the planet.

Incidentally, I also sing, debate, blog, think, tweet, draw, write, translate, and work hard to be a reasonably smart cookie. In other words, I'm a full, flawed person - and I don't see the world collapsing around my ears because of it.

Some of the tweeters asked why I and other people got defensive - so here, morons, is why: because no-one deserves to have their personhood stripped from them because of their looks. No-one deserves to have their personhood stripped from them, full stop.

It's worth laughing at the trend, though (which no longer seems to be trending in London - hallelujah) and I can't count the number of times I've wanted to reply to someone and say "Hi, I'm ugly and confident. Freaked out now?". (Actually, someone should do this.) As cruel as those people are, they're also delusional. It's nice to turn their delusions upside down every once in a while.

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